Asian isomer-grade mixed xylenes have started 2014 in a slump, down 17% year on year Tuesday, as demand from new paraxylene plants in the region has likely been delayed until the second half of the year, sources said.
The FOB Korea isomer-MX marker slipped $10/mt from Monday to be assessed at $1,190/mt Tuesday, down from $1,427.50/mt a year earlier, when the market surged to a 4 1/2-year high because South Korea's Hyundai-Cosmo Petrochem started commercial operations at its 800,000 mt/year PX plant in Daesan. Isomer-MX is a feedstock for producing PX.
"Although the isomer-MX balance flipped to 'net-short' in H2 2013, and the balance may be worse this year due to new PX plants startups, the Asian isomer-MX prices are weakening," a trader based in Seoul said.
Asian isomer-grade mixed xylenes have started 2014 in a slump, down 17% year on year Tuesday, as demand from new paraxylene plants in the region has likely been delayed until the second half of the year, sources said.
The FOB Korea isomer-MX marker slipped $10/mt from Monday to be assessed at $1,190/mt Tuesday, down from $1,427.50/mt a year earlier, when the market surged to a 4 1/2-year high because South Korea's Hyundai-Cosmo Petrochem started commercial operations at its 800,000 mt/year PX plant in Daesan. Isomer-MX is a feedstock for producing PX.
"Although the isomer-MX balance flipped to 'net-short' in H2 2013, and the balance may be worse this year due to new PX plants startups, the Asian isomer-MX prices are weakening," a trader based in Seoul said.
